"Neeble," cried Jeanne, "O my cousin, is Neeble your pet? Why, he is a 'cochon de Barbarie!' O the dear little fellow! We could not--at least papa and mamma could not--read what he was. And have you brought him all the way, my cousin, and do you love him very much? Marcelline, Marcelline, oh, do give us some milk for the cochon de Barbarie--oh, see, Marcelline, how sweet he is!" Once set free, her tongue ran on so fast that sometimes Hugh had difficulty to understand her. But the ice was broken any way, and when, an hour or two later, Jeanne's mother told her she might take Hugh up to show him his room, the two trotted off, hand-in-hand, as if they had been close companions for years. "I hope you will like your room, cheri," said Jeanne, with a tiny tone of patronising. "It is not very far from mine, and mamma says we can keep all our toys and books together in my big cupboard in the passage." Hugh looked at Jeanne for a moment without speaking. "What was that name you called me just now, Jeanne?" he asked, after a little pause. Jeanne thought for a minute. "'Mon cousin,' was it that?" she said. "Oh no, I remember, it was 'cheri.' I _cannot_ say your name--I have tried all these days. I cannot say it better than 'Ee-ou,' which is not pretty." She screwed her rosy little mouth into the funniest shape as she tried to manage "Hugh." Hugh could hardly help laughing. "Never mind," he said. "I like 'cheri' ever so much better. I like it better than 'mon cousin' or any name, because, do you know," he added, dropping his voice a little, "I remember now, though I had forgotten till you said it--that was the name mamma called me by." "Cheri!" repeated Jeanne, stopping half-way up the staircase to throw her arms round Hugh's neck at the greatest risk to the equilibrium of the whole party, including the guinea-pig--"_Cheri!_ I shall always call you so, then. You shall be my Prince Cheri. Don't you love fairy stories, mon cousin?" "_Awfully_," said Hugh, from the bottom of his soul. [Illustration: 'ISN'T IT A FUNNY ROOM, CHERI?'--p. 25] "I knew you would," said Jeanne triumphantly. "And oh, so do I! Marcelline says, Cheri, that the tapestry room--that's the room you're going to have--is full of fairy stories. I wonder if you'll find out any of them. You must tell me if you do." "The tapestry room?" repeated Hugh; "I don't think I ever saw a tapestry room. Oh," he added, as a sudden recollection struck him, "is it like what that queen long ago worked about the battles and all that? I mean all about William the Conqueror." "No," said Jeanne, "it's quite different from that work. I've seen that, so I know. It isn't pretty at all. It's just long strips of linen with queer-shaped horses and things worked on. Not _at all_ pretty. And I think the pictures on the walls of your room _are_ pretty. Here it is. Isn't it a funny room, Cheri?"